It's time to think about setting up summer beer -- those brews we make for the warmer season. (OK...you SouthHem folks can tell us about your winter beers!)

I've always been of more than one mind about summer beer. Part of me likes a lighter beer with just a bit of residual maltiness and a moderate dose of hops. Part of me likes a beer with lots of mass and a heady amount of alcohol. Part of me wants a lager, another an ale.

My most frequent summer brew is Wasp Trap Ale -- which is a relatively uncomplicated extract brew with a varying palette of hops. (Sometimes it's "Wazzinafridge" variety, other times Cascade and Willamette, or Goldings, etc. Depends on what I can get on any given day.) I tend to bottle it in 2-litre bottles.

I started brewing it when my wife tried to find some cheap beer in the house to use as bait in the wasp traps. She knows to ask before using just any bottle that comes to hand.

I made a bunch of it and decided it was OK to drink. Yup, I'm one of them con-oh-sewers. This is a good time of year, as the house will get too hot to brew (and the root cellar too cold) later in the summer.

After a hard day on the terraces when it's 35C the eastern verandah is the place to be, with a beer or three or else a nice glass of absinthe.

:ootd: